Evidence of corruption at Central Basin water district is rising: Editorial

Something stinks at the Central Basin Municipal Water District, and no, it’s not the water.

For years now, there have been allegations of corruption floating around the obscure district that provides water to much of southeast Los Angeles County — from Signal Hill to Montebello — and it is coming to the surface.

Few would dispute that many of the five-member elected board’s decisions have been ethically questionable.

Now a report commissioned by the district revealed this week that Central Basin broke open-meeting laws when its directors approved a $2.7 million fund for a secret underwater storage project.

At the time, the agency was in a pitched battle with the Water Replenishment District over the basin. Central Basin eventually lost that fight after Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill in 2012 authored by then-state senator, now Rep. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, that effectively banned Central Basin from storing and managing underground water.

But in the middle of a turf battle riddled with lawyers and consultants, Central Basin wanted to move forward with a storage plan. One it could oversee in secret, away from the public. Public agencies with elected boards shouldn’t try moves like that.

The secret fund is part of a broader and more troubling picture emerging from Central Basin that attracted federal scrutiny and includes the board paying an auto allowance for director Art Chacon, who doesn’t even have a license to drive, a vague procurement policy and a worrisome relationship with the embattled Calderon family.

Taken together, these issues should not be ignored. And they raise serious questions about deeply entrenched problems that stretch beyond the Central Basin to a cadre of politically connected contractors.

There are no strong accountability measures for how money is spent at Central Basin and, for now, there seem to be few consequences. That’s a mistake.

It’s why small districts that draw little public interest or scrutiny can loot public coffers for their own enrichment. These districts escape independent oversight and are held accountable only during elections, where voter turnout is generally low.

So elected officials can coast along, skimming money off public coffers without much notice. As long as nothing fishy appears on a board agenda, nobody raises eyebrows. That changes when somebody gets burned or a reporter sniffs around.

Advertisement

That was the case with the Central Basin.

This news organization has been documenting case after case of questionable actions by the board. The most egregious appeared earlier this month when a whistleblower lawsuit alleged that the $2.7 million secret fund went to political allies, board members and friends of district employees, including former Democratic Assemblyman Tom Calderon.

He, along with his brother, state Sen. Ron Calderon, D-Montebello, were the center of an unrelated corruption probe that led to a grand jury indictment of both men in February on charges of money laundering and conspiracy, among others.

There may not be legal consequences for the Central Basin officials’ action, but the public is owed an explanation of where the money went, how it was spent and who profited from it.

The firm hired to do the Central Basin report, Arent Fox, is expected to release a fuller report in 30 days. Let’s hope it provides answers.